An overview of the sources, uses and effects of ionising radiation in the environment and their consequences for life.

This reference explores oceanographic and biological conditions involved in the transfer and accumulation of radionuclides in marine sediment and biota of the Northern European seas. Much of the content synthesizes decades of work by the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute. This forms the basis of a new methodological and theoretical framework describing radionuclide bioaccumulation by marine invertebrate and vertebrate animals, with special attention to marine food webs leading to humans.

This book presents a history of radioecology, from World War II through to the critical years of the Cold War, finishing with a discussion of recent developments and future implications for the field. Drawing on a vast array of primary sources, the book reviews, synthesizes and discusses the implications of the ecological research supported by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of the United States government, from World War II to the early 1970s. This was a critical period in the history of ecology, characterized by a transition from the older, largely descriptive studies of communities of plants and animals to the modern form of the science involving functional studies of energy flow and mineral cycling in ecosystems. This transition was in large part due to the development of radioecology, which was a by-product of the Cold War and the need to understand and predict the consequences of a nuclear war that was planned but has never occurred. The book draws on important case studies, such as the Pacific Proving Grounds, the Nevada Test Site, El Verde in Puerto Rico, the Brookhaven National Laboratory and recent events such as the nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima. By revisiting studies and archived information from the Cold War era, this book offers lessons from the history of radioecology to provide background and perspective for understanding possible present-day impacts from issues of radiation risks associated with nuclear power generation and waste disposal. Post-Cold War developments in radioecology will be also reviewed and contrasted with the AEC-supported ecology research for further perspectives. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of radioecology, environmental pollution, environmental technology, bioscience and environmental history.

This open access book summarizes the latest scientific findings regarding the biological effects of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident in 2011. Various cases of changes in animals and organisms have been reported since the FNPP accident. However, it is often unknown whether they are actually due to radiation, since the dose or dose-rate are not necessarily associated with the changes observed. This book brings together the works of radiation biologists and ecologists to provide reliable radioecology data and gives insight into future radioprotection. The book examines the environmental pollution and radiation exposure, and contains valuable data from abandoned livestock in the ex-evacuation zone and from wild animals including invertebrates and vertebrates, aqueous and terrestrial animals, and plants that are subjected to long-term exposure in the area still affected by radiation. It also analyzes dose evaluation, and offers new perspectives gained from the accident, as well as an overview for future studies to promote radioprotection of humans and the ecosystem. Since the biological impact of radiation is influenced by various factors, it is difficult to scientifically define the effects of low-dose/low-dose-rate radiation. However, the detailed research data presented can be combined with the latest scientific and technological advances, such as artificial intelligence, to provide new insights in the future. This book is a unique and valuable resource for researchers, professionals and anyone interested in the impact of exposure to radiation or contamination with radioactive materials.

Environmental Radionuclides presents a state-of-the-art summary of knowledge on the use of radionuclides to study processes and systems in the continental part of the Earth's environment. It is conceived as a companion to the two volumes of this series, which deal with isotopes as tracers in the marine environment (Livingston, Marine Radioactivity) and with the radioecology of natural and man-made terrestrial systems (Shaw, Radioactivity in Terrestrial Ecosystems). Although the book focuses on natural and anthropogenic radionuclides (radioactive isotopes), it also refers to stable environmental isotopes, which in a variety of applications, especially in hydrology and climatology, have to be consulted to evaluate radionuclide measurements in terms of the ages of groundwater and climate archives, respectively. The basic principles underlying the various applications of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in environmental studies are described in the first part of the book. The book covers the two major groups of applications: the use of radionuclides as tracers for studying transport and mixing processes: and as time markers to address problems of the dynamics of such systems, manifested commonly as the so-called residence time in these systems. The applications range from atmospheric pollution studies, via water resource assessments to contributions to global climate change investigation. The third part of the book addresses new challenges in the development of new methodological approaches, including analytical methods and fields of applications. - A state-of-the-art summary of knowledge on the use of radionuclides - Conceived as a companion to the two volumes of this series, which deal with isotopes as tracers